Tihi Huau (Cutting Hair) Ceremony of Nuaulu People in Maluku Province

1. Background

Maluku is one of the provinces in Indonesia in which a tribe called Nuaulu lives. The social stratification of the society is divided into three classes: soa leader called kapitang, public figure (in local region), and common people. The people of kapitang class are the descendants of the soa establisher. The people of public figure class are the descendants of the formers public figures. While the people of common people class, are neither the descendants of soa establisher nor former public figures. The Naualu people have a cutting hair ceremony called tihi huau as tradition. The tradition is closed to their belief that a child (whether a boy/ girl) is vulnerable to evil spirit. To avoid the evil spirit, they hold tihi huau ceremony to cut off evil spirit from the child. This is also to pray for the children so that they do not inherit their parents` bad characters and can do their social role well according to the society`s rules, norms, and values. It is symbolized with cutting hair because according to their belief, hair is part of human body that has magic in it. Hair can be used to hurt the owner by using magic. The magic for hurting others using their part of body (hair) is “kiasan magic”.

They believe that after the sunset evil spirit walks the earth. Because of that, the ceremony is held in the morning or afternoon not at night, to avoid the evil spirit posses the child.

2. Equipments

The equipments needed for the ceremony are: (1) bulu sero, a shaver made of bamboo; (2) a comb made of coconut fiber; (3) a chair, (4) joint of bamboo to keep the cut hair. Beside the equipments above, there are also food and drink, such as banana, mineral water or tea, and few kinds of food made of sago (tutupola, alu-alu, sago tumbu, and papeda) to prepare. 

3. Procedure

The ceremony begins with sitting the child on the chair, and the family members circle around the child. Then the momo kanate (soa leader that leads the ceremony) comes to the child, prays by heart and cuts the child hair with bulu sero. The hair is cut with bamboo not any tool made of metal because they believe that metal shaver has a destructive magic power that can endanger the child. During the cutting, the family prays to Upu Kuanahatana and the ancestor spirit.

The part of the hair that cut depends on the child`s parents social status in the society. For a child from kapitang class, the front hair must be left uncut. For a child from public figures class, the hair right on top of the head (crown of the head) must be left uncut. For a child from common family, the hair at the back of the head must be left uncut. Seeing the hair of a child, people can tell from which class that child belongs.

The momo kanate chosen to lead the ceremony, must come from the soa that the child`s father comes. Soa is a unity of people based on territorial genealogy. People of Nuaulu who live in Amahi region have 11 soas united in 4 villages. Being a momo kanate is a great honor from the soa. A momo kanate is a respected person and believed having certain charisma and supernatural power that can defeat evil spirit. Beside momo kanate, relatives from father and mother sides are also involved in the ceremony.

After the cutting of the hair, the next thing to do is combing the hair with a comb from coconut fiber that is done by the momo kanate. Then the head is washed with water that the momo kanate has put spell on. The washing is a symbol meaning the child is free from inheriting the parents` bad characters and also free from evil spirit.

The cut hair is kept inside a joint of bamboo. Everyone in the village has a joint of bamboo that has already signed/marked so that there will be no misidentification. Those joints of bamboo are placed in numaonate or soa house for census. So, if there are 650 joints of bamboo, there will be 650 people live in the village. To avoid mistakes in census, if someone dies, his/her joint of bamboo is buried along with the dead body.

The last thing is the feast. All people gather to enjoy the food that has been prepared by the host. The feast that is a closing for the ceremony is also a thanksgiving to Upu Kuanahatana and ancestor spirits because the ceremony goes well. The food that served in the feast is the ordinary/ everyday menu, so all people from all social classes can hold the ceremony.

4. Cultural Values

The cultural values in the Tihi Huau ceremony are: togetherness, accuracy, and safety.  The togetherness value can be seen through the gathering of the people in the community to pray for a child, which also makes the relationship among the people in the village closer.

The value of accuracy can be seen through the ceremony process itself. The process needs preparation (before, during, and after the ceremony). The preparation does not only include the equipments, but also place, time, and the people (whoever involves in the procession). Everything must be prepared well so that the ceremony goes well and smooth. Therefore, carefulness and accuracy are needed.

The value of safety can be seen through the purpose of the ceremony itself: praying for a child`s safety –no evil spirit that disturbs the child-, and praying that the child does not inherit the parents` bad characters. With the cutting of the hair, a child is considered free form evil spirit and has better characters than the parents. Beside that, all relatives pray so that Upu Kuanahatana blesses the child.

(EV/3/12-07/TM)

Translated from Indonesian version by (DW)

Source:

Suradi Hp, dkk.1982.Upacara Tradisional Daerah Maluku.Ambon: Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan.

---

Insert your comment here :